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"MOONSCOPE"
The first
functional exhibited moon vehicle was engineered and constructed
by Barris Kustom. After many hours of research and development,
George Barris designed and built his first concept of an all terrain
moon mobile unit. The Moonscope is a moon crawler that will enable
astronauts to maneuver around the moon surface.
Since the moon surface is dusty and soft, craters deep and some
hollow, the moon crawler is equipped with special shocks from
Carrera to enable it to adapt itself to maneuvering like a spider.
Since the moon has no air, gas combustion engines canšt be used
so Cushman engineered and provided a basic electric platform and
chassis with General Electric motors. Drive gears are in forward
and reverse movement with foot pedals controls and speeds up to
45 mph. The braking foot control has a locking emergency brake
pedal. The chassis has six spider type wheels that will function
in all direction to compensate for movement over the craters.
The vehicle is a 4 wheel drive recticle unit with power to the
front and rear wheels. Th U joint slip tubes are mounted on pillar
bearings that slide in the drive shaft. Upper control arms are
adjustable, spring loaded and the Carrera socks move with the
axle and U joints. Air craft spherical rod ends stabilize the
bars and assist in guiding the wheels and axles from bending into
a contortional situation. The center wheels are used as stability
support moving on shocks and bearing surfaces with chrome alloy
tubing axles. The body is a monque constructed tube frame, plus
twenty gauge special heat treated U.S. steel panels are formed
to follow the body configurations. The panels are treated with
a special formula to stand maximum fahrenheit at different atmospheres.
The body is securely attached to a special unitized frame that
housed the complete electrical and suspension system. A front
roll bar is attached around the windshield to function in alignment
with the rear section roll bar. In the seating area there are
body contoured seats with foam padding that fully encases the
astronauts figure. There are compartments in the rear behind the
astronauts for carrying all the items they might pick up on a
moon excursion and take back to the space module.
Behind the storage compartment are extra oxygen bottles with high
pressure nozzles provided by MOON Equipment. All lubricants for
astronautical maintenance is provided by the STP Corporation.
George was contacted by NASA because they were interested in the
wheel design. NASA requested detailed background information on
the design of the vehicle. Barris gave NASA permission to utilize
any of the advanced designs for the Mars missions. |
